A Vast Universe
by PippinSqueaks
Summary: Sequel to 'A New Universe'. Reader-chan has finally found her place in this new universe. However, her journey is far from over. Adjusting to life at Sabertooth quickly becomes a challenge in itself, whilst word about a new guild of the underworld rising threatens to unravel everything she holds dear. And now she has no prior knowledge of stories to help her.
1. Returns and Recklessness

"You know, when I pictured my first day in Sabertooth, this isn't exactly what I imagined." You muttered, looking down at Sting, who was sprawled across several seats of the train carriage trying to hold back the urge to vomit. Rogue was in a similar condition, but was moaning less. His pale skin was even more pale than normal and sweat clung to his brow as he fought the nausea.

"Urrghhhh..."

"Rogue..." Frosch said. He was sitting on top of Rogue's head and stroking the top of his head with his paws. Sting, on the other hand, had decided to solve the problem by taking up as much space as possible. He had decided ten minutes into the several hour journey back from Crocus that your lap was going to be his pillow. Luckily, neither of them had actually been sick yet, but every minute you feared one or both of them would be. You had been on the train less than 15 minutes and both dragon slayers were in a bad way.

"Kill...me..." Sting groaned.

"Stop being so melodramatic. You're worse than Natsu." You attempted to scold him, but couldn't bring yourself to be too harsh given his sorry condition.

"Sting-kun's ability on trains...is not the best." Lector sighed from next to you. He had curled up sleepily on Sting's back; it was rather comical and you wondered how many of these kinds of journeys the two of them had been on.

"Is there not anything that helps?" You asked.

"Well, there was the time they flailed around so much when the train began moving before they took their seats that they knocked each other out..."

You stifled back a laugh. "Really?"

"Yeah, we woke up at the end of the line, 3 days walk away from where we were supposed to be going."

"Wow." You smirked slightly. "Should we knock them out?"

"Nah, it's a pain waking them up." Lector murmured with a yawn.

"Fro thinks so too!"

"I have an idea." You said. "Cars used to make me kinda ill when I went on long journeys in my old world. There was only one thing that helped."

You got up out of your seat, resting a moaning Sting's head on the seat of the train carriage instead and reached up for your suitcase. Mira had offered to bring the rest of your belongings over to Sabertooth in a few days time or would send it with a team who happened to be doing a job in the area. You unzipped the outer zip of the suitcase and brought out your iPod and headphones. It was good to have the ability to listen to it again. Ever since you'd managed to find the required electrical lacrima to allow the charger to work again, you'd barely stopped listening to it. The ball and the Games had been the only break in your listening since you had it fixed on the Games' day off.

You sat back down, replacing Sting's head on your lap. He probably barely registered the fact that you'd not been there for a minute or so. You placed the headphones over his ears and selected a playlist of power ballads. Sting relaxed slightly as he listened to the music. Rogue threw you a slightly resentful look.

"Sorry..." You said with an apologetic expression.

It seemed that listening to Simple Minds was keeping Sting more stable for the moment. Lector's whiskers twitched slightly as he leant over Sting's head and listened to the music coming from the headphones. You dug into your pocket and pulled out a mint chocolate. You had yet to find out if Fiore had managed to invent chewing gum, so mint chocolate of the strong variety would have to do. You passed it to Rogue.

"Eat that." You said calmly. "Mint stops you from being sick physically."

Rogue didn't reply but put the chocolate in his mouth. He chewed on it slowly. You could tell from his expression that he wasn't fond of the taste, but hopefully it would help.

"Thank you." Frosch said with a small smile.

"It's okay. Oh, by the way, Frosch, did you want to hear that story?"

"Story!"

You beamed and stroked Sting's hair gently. He looked up at you briefly before groaning and replacing his head face down in your lap. You still had a long journey ahead. "Okay. So once upon a time, there were a couple called Mr and Mrs Dursley, and they were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much..."

After telling Frosch most of the entirety of the first Harry Potter book, the train finally pulled into the stop where Sabertooth's guild was located. You watched the other guild members that had attended the Games file out of separate carriages; no-one had wanted to share a compartment with Sting and Rogue for understandable reasons. You helped the two dragon slayers up and off the train with the help of their Exceeds.

"I am never going on a train again." Sting groaned, leaning on your shoulder for support.

"You'll have to, Sting-kun. Weaknesses make us stronger." Lector piped up.

"Lector's right." You added. "It's a necessary evil."

"We're still walking next time."

"No way, dragon breath. Not happening."

You hauled Sting up and looked at the now virtually empty platform. "Which way?"

"This way." Rogue pointed weakly and the five of you began walking towards the exit of the station, you handling the two dragon slayers and the luggage.

"This town is so different from Magnolia." You noted curiously. "Not much of the other places were detailed other than Magnolia and Crocus in the story."

"_," Sting said, looking up at you. The colour was beginning to return to his face, which was a good sign. "I'm going to have to deal with the guild as soon as we get in. Then I'll show you your room."

"Square deal." You smiled back. "You know, this is rather exciting for me. A whole new bit of this universe I've never seen. But still..." You said, voice fading wistfully.

"What's wrong, _?" Frosch said.

"Nothing. Just...I'm gonna miss them."

"Isn't that Mira girl coming round like, tomorrow or something?" Sting said.

"Probably a few days time, actually. You know how Fairy Tail are with their parties. The one when they came back from Tenrou Island lasted...three days? Verging on four?"

"Wait, NON-STOP?" Rogue gaped.

"Obviously!" You beamed. "They know how to party. I must have sung eight songs over those days for the guild. Gajeel-san helped."

"Gajeel-kun...helped you sing?" Rogue said doubtfully.

"His singing leaves much to be desired." You said with a smile. "However, he's an excellent guitar playe-" You gasped. "Where's my guitar?"

"Wasn't it in your suitcase?"

"No, it was..." Your heart sank. "In the corridor." You looked back at the train platform. The train was still there but the final whistle was blowing. "Lector, look after Sting a moment."

You dashed rapidly back to the platform as the train began to move out of the station slowly. You jumped over the security guard and headed into the platform, running along side the train as it accelerated.

"_, are you crazy?!" Rogue shrieked.

"PROBABLY!" You shouted back and dived left, leaping onto a door of the train and clinging on for dear life.

The window was open and you heaved yourself up and through the tiny opening, wind rushing in your ears. You tumbled headfirst into the train, much to the surprise of some shocked onlookers. You dashed past people, dodging and squeezing past them until you finally saw your white guitar case. You rushed forward and picked it up, sighing in relief and putting it on your back. You then headed for the nearest train door. The train was moving fast now, at least 50 miles per hour.

"Are you okay there, dear?" An old woman asked. "You look a little red. Would you like a drink?"

"I'm okay, ma'am, but thank you." You smiled gratefully at her. She hadn't needed to offer you anything. "If it's okay, could you stand back?"

The old lady looked confused but backed up as you asked. You opened the train door and the wind came rushing in, noisily blowing about.

"Angel soul!" You yelled and transformed. It hurt slightly as it had been many months since you had had your guitar case on your back fitted around your wings and you hit them against the case. You'd tried to break the habit for the Games. Hopefully it would work like riding a bicycle.

You spread your wings and jumped out of the train, flapping desperately but you quickly descended to the ground. Your scales were strong enough to stop you from gaining too much damage to you, but you still hurt your butt and you were pretty sure it hadn't done your only recently healed arm any favours. You stood up and brushed yourself down. The train was speeding away and you saw the old woman in the window. You waved with a grin before taking off and flying back towards the train station, where Sting and Rogue, now mostly recovered, were waiting for you. You descended gently and you had barely shut down your transformation before Sting grabbed your shoulders.

"What the hell were you thinking?"

"Um...I forgot my guitar?" You retorted meekly.

"What did I say about being reckless?!"

You cringed and shut your eyes, waiting for the inevitable yelling that would be expected of any sane person having witnessed that. Instead you were met with warm arms wrapped around you and a hand caressing your hair.

"Don't do that." Sting said grumpily as he hugged you. You figured that was as close as you were getting to being forgiven.

"Sting, we need to get to the guild." Rogue said, looking at the town clock tower. "It's nearly sundown."

"You're right." He said. "I have big plans for Sabertooth now. I have to be there on time."

"So do I have to call you Master?" Rogue remarked.

"Good question." You seconded.

"I guess so." Sting said. There was absolutely no way he could have prevented either you nor Rogue from detecting the rather intolerable air of smugness that seemed to underlay in that sentence.

You rolled your eyes. "Not into that kinky stuff, you know."

"It'd be the other way around." Rogue snickered and you arched an eyebrow in surprise. It was rather uncharacteristic for the shadow dragon slayer. You were so glad that Sting hadn't heard him.

"Fro thinks so too!"

"Fine." Sting sighed. "You don't have to. Not when we're alone."

"Lector will try." You muttered.

"Hm?"

"Oh, nothing."

"How far forward does your knowledge of this universe stretch?" Sting asked curiously.

"To be honest, it's coming to an end."  
You remembered the last chapter, the one that had come out the day you'd left for Earthland. "And I pray that you two will be safe when it happens."

"We'll get through it, whatever it is. We're the strongest guild in Fiore!" Lector said with a confident grin.

"Second-strongest." You corrected.

"Eh, they got lucky."

"Lector, so help me..." You started but were cut off by Sting vomiting in the middle of the street. You noticed the 'walking path closed - alternate bus service running to the town centre'.

Oh geez. You sighed. Your journey at Sabertooth was getting off to a fantastic start.


	2. Infirmaries and Interruptions

By the time you got back to the guild, you had sighed more than you thought possible in an hour time period.

"Our brave Master returns." Orga snickered sarcastically and opened the door to let you in. Your eyes widened. The Sabertooth guild really was full of splendour. Recruiting strong members had obviously meant that they'd spent lots of money on the place. The kind of money that Fairy Tail would never be able to get away with - after all, the guild hall seemed to get destroyed or at least wrecked internally on a daily basis.

"This place is incredible." You breathed.

"Ehehe, the fairy girl's impressed." Orga grinned. You rolled your eyes and went to join Yukino, who had rushed over to support a queasy Rogue.

"What happened to them, _-sama?" She asked.

"No need for the -sama, Yukino-chan." You smiled. "It's the result of a two hour train journey and a half hour bus ride."

"Ew." Someone from the guild cringed.

"Where's the infirmary?" You asked.

"This way." A quiet but calm voice said. You looked left to see Rufus rise from his chair, his hat evidently retrieved from Gray after the Games. He led you and Yukino to a side room where you lay the two dragon slayers in bed whilst they moaned and groaned.

"Drama queens." Orga laughed heartily. "Always shooting off their mouths about being strong but a single train journey cripples 'em."

You couldn't help but smile fondly down at the two of them. "They've always been like this then?"

"You bet." He said.

"Sting-kun is still the strongest!" Lector puffed up his chest from the end of Sting's bed. Sting responded by groaning and rolling over.

"Real strong." Orga snickered and walked out with a casual wave. "Nice meetin' you properly, fairy girl!"

You sat next to Sting's bed. You could see Rogue watching you from hooded eyes from his own bed, Frosch sat by his cheek. You sent a small smile his way before taking a hold of Sting's hand and caressing it gently.

"Home is behind...the world ahead..." You sang softly to him.

"And there are many paths to tread...  
Through shadow...to the edge of night..." You ran a gentle hand over the scar on his head and he began to relax slightly.

"Until the stars are all alight...Mist and shadow...Cloud and shade...All shall fade...All shall...fade." You finished, kissing the top of his forehead, earning you a small weak smile from the dragon slayer.

"What is that song, _-chan?" Yukino asked.

"It's from a story called 'The Lord of the Rings'." You said with a smile. "My mum used to sing this to me when I was little, whenever I was ill."

"Can I hear another story?" Frosch said enthusiastically.

"You want me to continue the story from the train?"

"Yes!"

Yukino beamed at you. "I'll leave you to it."

"Yukino..." You called after her. "I really hope we can become friends."

"I'd like that." She said with a shy smile.

You beamed and turned back to Frosch. "Now where were we?"

"Trolls!" He said, bouncing up and down.

"Ah, yes. The troll in the dungeon."

"Trolls?" Sting asked weakly.

"Of course. Listen!" You grinned and continued to tell Frosch the story, pausing only so Sting and Rogue could laugh at your description of Ron Weasley knocking out the troll, before promptly having to swallow back more vomit.

Once the two were recovered, Sting immediately decided to gather and address the guild.

"Attention, everyone!" He shouted. "I have a few announcements. Firstly, there are going to be some changes now that I'm the guild master. We're going to still be the strongest guild, but we're also going to be a guild that treasures its members!" A cheer went up around the guild. "Secondly, there has been no word from either Jiemma or Lady Minerva. We are assuming that our old Master does not wish to come back to the guild. Our lady, however, is missing. We can hope that she will return to us. Thirdly, we're going to have a bit of construction happening. As it's the summer, I figured it was time Sabertooth got a pool!" An even louder cheer went around the room. Yukino laughed next to you. "Lastly," Sting continued. "We'd like to welcome back Yukino and introduce _ to our guild." You blushed nervously as a few wolf whistles echoed around the guild. Sting sent the perpetrators a glare.

"It's good to be back." Yukino said shyly. You waved next to her.

"Excuse me..." One of the members suddenly shouted to you. "Are you that girl that blew up our guild quarters in the capital with Natsu-san?"

"Er..." You sweat dropped. "I was technically there to stop him."

"So you're that girl!" The guy replied with a much happier tone than you expected. "You're super strong!"

"I...thank you." You flushed.

"Right," Sting interrupted. "That's it for notices. We need people to work on the designs for the pool. Yukino has volunteered to organise it with me, so see her if you have ideas. Dismissed!"

The guild soon went back to chattering and looking at their request boards. A few people began talking to Yukino and you stood there awkwardly for a few moments.

"_." A voice said behind you, making you jump. Sting was grinning at you. "Did I do okay?" He asked, addressing you and Lector, who had just joined you.

"You were awesome, Sting-kun!"

"Not bad." You chuckled. "Um...I kinda need to put my stuff somewhere." You mentioned, gesturing to your suitcase and guitar propped against your legs.

"Oh, yeah. Follow me." Sting said, before leading you up a spiral staircase and along a corridor. He stood in front of a room with a door that stuck out like a sore thumb. It had black paint covering one side, and white paint the other side. Sting opened it to show a large bedroom complete with two double beds on either side of the room. Your eyes immediately went to the wardrobe, where there was a loud rustling.

"Hello?" You called. Rogue and Frosch stuck their heads out from behind the wardrobe door.

"What are you doing?" Sting cried out.

"Moving rooms." He stated simply.

"Why?!" Sting retorted.

"If you two are going to be going at it like rabbits at night, I'm not sharing a room with you, Sting. It'd be gross."

"Fro thinks so too."

You were sure a small amount of blood was coming out of Sting's nose and you could feel the intense heat on your cheeks.

"T-That's...I..." You stuttered. "Sting, where's my room?"

"Just here." He said, gesturing to an empty room two doors down. It was larger than the one you had at Fairy Tail, and would be ideal. It had a nice double bed, a wardrobe, and a desk.

"Tell Rogue there is no need to move." You said eventually as you took in the room. "You can come here."

"I...I can?" Sting whispered in shock.

"N-Not for that!" You blurted. "N-Not yet at least." Your already hot cheeks were probably the heat of Natsu's flames at this point. "I'm gonna unpack. Can you give me a hand?"

"S-Sure." He gathered himself and brought your suitcase into the room.

"It'll be kinda bare until Mira brings all my stuff over." You commented shyly.

"Hey, _, um...I've been meaning to ask you...er..." Sting said, a slight pink tinge to his face. "If you wanted to maybe go somewhere soon? Just the two of us?" He blurted quickly.

"I'd like that a lot." You said with a smile. "Plan something nice."

Sting nodded and sighed with relief. Something told you that that conversation he'd had with Mira before leaving Crocus had been an instructional one. You laughed lightly and pulled him forwards for a gentle kiss. He put a hand up to your face and deepened it. That, you didn't think you could ever get tired of it. You smirked against his lips slightly.

"Don't push it, mister." You grinned. "You spent most of the day using me as a pillow. I need some payback."

"Hm..." He smirked back, a slight glint in his eye. "That can work too." He suddenly picked you up and pushed you against the wall near the door. You wrapped your legs around his waist as he kissed up your neck, sucking on it slightly.

"Sting..." You said breathlessly.

"_..." He muttered, a hand delicately trailing up your leg as he brought your lips back to his.

"My eyes! My sweet, sweet eyes!" Orga shouted dramatically from the doorway. You yelped and broke apart from Sting, nearly falling over doing so. An unamused Sting chucked a ball of white light at him mercilessly and he went flying back into the wall.

"Sting!" You scolded.

"He was interrupting."

"Weren't we supposed to be unpacking, anyway?" You reminded him. Unpacking would help you forget briefly that every time you seemed to get alone time with Sting, someone would interrupt you. It was bothersome and did nothing to help your hormones.

"Yeah, I guess."

You giggled and slipped off your leather jacket, placing it on the hook on the door. "When do you reckon we'll have the pool completed by?"

"A week, perhaps?" Sting replied. "Say, _, I am doing this right, aren't I?"

"Which part of 'this'?" You gestured to everything. He could mean many things. Your unpacking, your relationship, the guild pool planning.

"The guild. I'm trying so hard to make it better for everyone."

"You're doing a great job." You assured him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Fro thinks so too!" A little voice from the door said. Rogue was standing moodily in the doorway.

"Hey, Rogue." You greeted. "I was about to come find you."

"There's no need." He said. "I'm not moving rooms. But if there is anything happening, keep it to her room, Sting!"

Sting went to clobber him but you got there first, using your transformation magic to turn Rogue's face into a terrifying reconstruction of Frosch's.

"Why?!"

"Frosch is nicer to me." You grinned and gave Frosch a tiny fist bump, before walking off down the corridor with the Exceed without a care in the world.

"Sting..." Rogue muttered.

"Uh-huh?"

"Good luck."


	3. Paybacks and Pools

"_-CHAN!" A voice cried around the large Sabertooth main hall. You swore that the tiger statues flanking the Master chair shook slightly. You jumped out of bed and sprinted to the top of the balcony, before squealing loudly at who it was.

"LEVY-CHAN! MIRA-CHAN!" You rushed forward and tacklehugged them, spinning them round happily. "I've missed you guys so much!" You hugged the two women tightly. Levy had slight tears in her eyes.

"Hello, _-chan." Mira beamed.

"Hiya!" Levy echoed happily. You suddenly began scowling at them.

"Two weeks, though, guys? Really?" You said with a sigh.

"Well the guild's party finished last night, so..."

"Last night?!" A voice from above you said in shock. Sting had emerged from his room and padded onto the balcony in his slacks, and not much else. Lector was standing on the edge of the balcony, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"Are you really so surprised?" Mira said with a soft smile.

"No." You said in defeat.

"But we brought everything over! We have your clothes, your books, even your shoes!"

"Oh, fantastic." You grinned. You opened the nearest bag to have a look inside. Your Happy t-shirt was at the top of the pile. "Wait, you found this?"

"Lu-chan helped us pack and Virgo found it. We didn't tell Natsu. We...well it was agreed upon that would inflate his ego too much." Levy said.

"Let me guess...Gray?" You laughed lightly.

"No, actually. Erza. I think it was a strawberry cake related payback."

"Ah."

"How is Natsu-kun?" Sting said, walking across the guild hall to where the three of you were standing together.

"Put something on, Sting." You sighed as Mira replied "He's fine. Destructive as usual."

"You know you like it." He smirked, before calling over his shoulder. "Lector, are you and Frosch ready to go?"

"Yep. Frosch is just getting some money." Sting nodded and turned back to you. "See? No-one has a problem with it."

"Not the point!" You continued. "Even Gray covered up - albeit briefly - whenever there were guests at the guild."

"It's fine, _-chan, really." Mira said.

"Absolutely fine." Levy said. The two women looked Sting up and down and he grinned smugly at the attention.

"I'm taking my things upstairs." You muttered in annoyance, picking up as many of the bags as you could.

"_-chan, we were just kidding!" Levy said, rather flustered.

"Hm. Oh, by the way, Levy," you smirked evilly at her. "How is Gajeel?"

"W-Why should I know?" She puffed up her chest of defiance.

"Levyyyyy, please just get together."

"WE'RE NOT LIKE THAT!" She shrieked.

"Mira, back me up!" You whined.

"I'm staying out of this." She replied, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. You scowled. Mira the matchmaker not helping you?! She was just being mean.

"Gajeel-san and Levy-san are a thing?" Sting whispered to you as Levy continued to blush furiously.

"No." You replied. "But they should be!"

"Isn't she a little..."

"I wouldn't say it, Sting" You cautioned, but he finished the sentence anyway.

"Small?"

Levy looked incredibly put out. Despite her usually calm and sweet demeanour, Levy could probably have electrocuted Sting using her solid script magic at any point during the four second long glaring at him that ensued.

"Levy, can you help me with _-chan's bags?" Mira interrupted.

"Okay." Levy said through gritted teeth.

"Sting, why did you have to say that?" You sighed as the two girls followed Lector up the flight of stairs.

"But she is small!" He protested, and you tried to keep your mind focused on the fact that he had insulted one of your best friends rather than on his blatant lack of shirt.

"I once saw that girl knock out Gajeel with nothing but her handbag." You retorted and Sting's smug smile disappeared immediately. "Don't underestimate her."

"Noted." He said, before trailing off into his own thoughts, evidently trying to picture what that scene would have looked like.

"How's the pool doing this morning?" You asked as you headed back up the stairs with him. You knew it was near completion but weren't sure how it had been coming along. You'd spent most of the two weeks you'd been in Sabertooth getting to know the town and taking on a few simple jobs to pay rent as you got used to your new lifestyle.

"There'll be an announcement at noon. Be wearing your swimsuit. "He said, with a rather serious tone to his voice. "I'll wake up Rogue. It's already 10."

"Wake up Rogue?!" Your eyes widened. The morning before Sting had had to leave early for a guild meeting and you had volunteered to do the task of waking up Rogue and Frosch. You'd woken up Frosch first, who yawned sleepily and got into the frog suit you'd cleaned for him the night before. When you had gone to wake up Rogue, he had shoved you against a wall, shadows gathered around him until he realised who you were and backed off. It had been utterly terrifying and you didn't want to ever have to wake him up again.  
"Are you crazy?"

"No..." Sting said, though he didn't sound terribly convinced. "Rogue should be up by now."

"Good luck." You laughed lightly before turning right into your own room, leaving Sting to deal with Rogue. Two minutes later, as you sat happily on your bedroom floor unpacking books with Mira and Levy, a loud screaming came from two doors down.

"Rogue's awake." You grinned, prompting a giggling fit from the two women.

After Mira, Levy and yourself had exchanged more hugs, a few stories and some chocolate, the two Fairy Tail mages left with a promise to visit again soon. You'd arranged to come by the guild next time you had a job near Magnolia and vowed that you would bring your guitar. Most of your things had been unpacked now, including your swimsuit, so you had put it on underneath your vest top and shorts. You had been listening to music before you suddenly realised the time and bounded down to the guild hall barefoot as Sting began to give his address. You grinned and stood next to Yukino, Rogue, Orga and Rufus.

"We make the heavens roar, the earth boil and the sea silent." Sting said confidently in the Master's chair. "That is Sabertooth. Take off your clothes." He demanded, addressing seemingly everyone.

"All right. As you wish..." Yukino said calmly next to you, and dropped her cape to reveal a swimming costume. All around the guild hall, people began stripping off their clothing to show their swimming costumes.

"BECAUSE OUR POOL'S COMPLETED!" Sting yelled happily, jumping up out of his seat, taking off his own clothes and opening a door to reveal the completed pool. You stood there slightly frozen as everyone rushed towards the pool cheering. Rogue stood in his swimming shorts to the side putting his hair up into a ponytail. It really suited him, you noted.

"You're a little too excited, Sting." He smiled wryly. You peeped around the door. Most of the guild were already in the pool. Sting was enthusiastically swimming laps and the guild were enjoying the pool. Come to think of it, you thought, you'd barely been swimming since you arrived in Earthland. You'd liked swimming a lot in your old life. You'd even done a summer course in diving once. A giant smile just seemed to overtake your face. You pulled off your vest top and shorts to show your swimming costume, a simple white bikini. The water looked so tempting. Sod it, you thought. You ran straight at the pool.

"Look out below!" You laughed and dived headfirst into the pool. You surfaced, standing up in the pool, and shook out your hair happily with a sigh. It was nice being in water.

You opened your eyes to see most of the guild staring at you. You looked down. Your bikini was in tact. You hadn't hit anybody when you dived in. There was no reason you could think of that people were staring at you.

"Rogue..." Sting muttered, breaking the silence. The rest of the guild went back to "Do you remember...?"

"Yeah." Rogue said, his gaze not leaving you. "I remember."

"Remember what?" You asked.

"Heh. Hehehehe." Sting snickered suddenly. You suddenly realised what he was remembering and crossed your arms over your breasts.

"We agreed never to talk about that, perverts!" You said, blushing profusely.

"What are they talking about, _-sama?" Yukino asked softly.

"The first time I met these two." You murmured. "There was an...er...incident. They saw much more of me than I intended."

"Oh."

You saw Sting go to open his mouth again cheekily and you splashed water in his direction.

"Hey!" He laughed and splashed you back. You gasped as the water hit you.

"Oh it is ON." You said. You quickly went into a splashing war until small tidal waves of water were heading in both directions. You leapt forward and tackled Sting, laughing. Water flew everywhere as the two of you play wrestled.

"Why won't you quit?" You whined with a light laugh.

"Because I'm winning." He replied, picking you up bridal style and kissing you gently. You grinned against his lips but the moment was immediately ruined by Rogue, who drenched the both of you. Sting put you down and went to splash Rogue mercilessly.

"Knock it off. Are you a little kid?" Rogue said grumpily.

"Sting-kun!" A voice echoed down the corridor where the pool connected to the guild hall. Lector appeared, flustered from evidently running lots. "Sting-kun! I mean Master!"

"Forget about the 'Master' thing, Lector. What's the panic about?"

"W-We've got an emergency! W-While we were shopping, Frosch disappeared on me!"

"Seriously?!" Sting cried.

"Frosch-sama!" Yukino said, putting a hand over her mouth.

"What?! Lector!" Rogue said, wading towards the edge of the pool. "How could that happen when he was with you?!"

"I-I'm sorry!" Lector wailed. "I only took my eyes off him for a minute..."

"It's okay, Lector. No-one's blaming you." You soothed, getting out of the pool and sitting next to the distressed Exceed. Sting, on the other hand, was dissatisfied, and grabbed Rogue's shoulder.

"Hey, Rogue! Blaming Lector is barking up the wrong tree!"

"Let me tell you, Frosch...has no sense of direction!"

"That's not Lector's fault!" Sting said defensively. The two both had clenched teeth and fists and had their foreheads pressed together angrily.

"Oh yeah?!"

"Yeah!"

"Both of you, this is no time for fighting!" You and Yukino said simultaneously as the two dragon slayers began to fight, tugging at various parts of each others' faces. Sting had also, to your private disappointment, managed to undo Rogue's adorable ponytail.

"We have to search for Frosch-sama!" Yukino said. You stepped in between the two fighting men, pushing them apart making your right hand 'accidentally' touch Sting's abs. Damn, you thought, before internally cursing yourself about priorities. Your relaxing day was about to become a lot more chaotic, you realised with a sigh.


	4. Focus and Faith

After a hurried getting dressed, Sting, Rogue, Lector, Yukino and yourself ran all the way to where Lector had lost Frosch.

"Frosch!" Rogue called. "Where are you?!"

"He seems really worried." You remarked to Yukino.

"Him and Sting-sama both are protective of their partners, clearly." She replied, before turning her head. "Huh?" You followed her gaze and saw a very familiar face eating away at some top class metal. "Isn't that..."

"Gajeel-san!" You yelled happily, running forward.

"Eh?" He turned around and grinned. "Oh, it's you!"

You jumped on him, a considerable feat given the fact he was over 6'4 and hugged him tightly.

"Hey, you!" You pulled back and grinned. "How's it going?"

"Gihee. I'm shopping with Lily. He'll be back in a momen-" Gajeel was cut off by Rogue, who had pushed past you and grabbed the front of his top.

"Hey! Did you see Frosch anywhere around here?!"

"What the hell! Watch the paws, pipsqueak! Are you tryin' to pick a fight?!"

"Frosch got lost." You explained quickly, helping Sting to pull Rogue away from Gajeel.

"Frosch?" Gajeel calmed. "That frog?"

"HE'S A CAT!" Rogue shrieked.

"Well, actually he's an Exceed." Another deep voice came from behind Gajeel. You beamed with delight.

"Lily!" You knelt down and opened your arms. Pantherlily smiled wryly and stepped in for a hug.

"Why are you hugging a cat...?" Sting commented.

"That's MY cat, punk!" Gajeel growled.

"He's not just a cat, Sting." You said as you beamed happily at the black Exceed in front of you. On par or even slightly above Levy and Mira, Pantherlily was your closest friend at Fairy Tail. You'd confided in him about being from another world and the two of you had had a long conversation about adjusting. Being from Edolas, Pantherlily knew all too well the difficulties of beginning a completely new life.

"Sting, Rogue, Yukino, Lector, I'd like to introduce you to former Captain of the Edolas Royal Guard, Pantherlily." You grinned. Lily gave them a polite nod despite their confused expressions.

"If you're looking for the Exceed, I saw him hanging around that way a few minutes ago."

"You're a life saver!" Sting said as him and Rogue began to run in the direction that Lily pointed in.

"Let's hurry!" Rogue said.

"Um, thank you!" Yukino said, before pursuing them with Lector. You were still crouched down next to Pantherlily who was looking after the group with a confused expression.

"Are they treating you alright?" Gajeel asked sternly.

"They are. So no need to bash anyone's head in."

"Gajeel, I trust _'s judgement. You should too." Pantherlily remarked.

"I'd better go after them." You sighed before kissing the top of Lily's head. "Come visit soon, okay? I miss you guys. And you owe me a match, Lily." You said, getting to your feet.

"Consider it planned." The Exceed replied with a smile.

"Oi, Lily. Why do you owe her a match?" Gajeel asked.

"She saved me from being asphyxiated by Levy during the Games." He replied casually.

"Shrimp did that?!"

"She WAS watching you." You snickered.

You fist bumped Pantherlily before leaving him and a bemused Gajeel, pursuing your new guild down the street. You caught up to them in the middle of the plaza.

"HEY! YOU HAVEN'T SEEN FROSCH AROUND HERE HAVE YOU?!" Rogue screamed, before Sting knocked him backwards into a water fountain.

"Can't you calm yourself down?! You're talking to a girl here!"

You looked past him and beamed. "Wendy-chan!" You smiled, approaching her and Carla, who was giving directions to Yukino.

"_-chan!" Wendy said happily.

"How are you?" You asked.

"I'm fine. I've been shopping for Chelia!"

"Wendy, you shouldn't-" Carla was cut off by Lector, who was enthusiastically shaking her paw.

"Thank you so much for your help! Wow, Carla, you're so beautiful, hai!"

"You're wasting your time, Lector." You snickered as Carla turned her nose away. Sting took your hand from next to you.

"We need to go."

"I'll see you soon, Wendy!" You called giggling as you ran off with Sting.

"What was that about?" Wendy said, blinking at the strange scene in front of her.

"Beats me." Carla replied.

"But _-chan and Sting-san were so cute, weren't they, Carla?"

"They were, actually..." Carla sighed in defeat.

"Hey," Sting said as you ran in pursuit of the headstrong Rogue, whose determination to find his Exceed defied every logical thought in his brain. "After this is over...um...did you maybe want to go out tonight?" He said nervously. It was sweet to watch the guy usually so confident he almost came off as arrogant become, well, whatever this was around you. He seemed to be sweaty at the brow, but in all fairness you had been running all around town looking for Frosch, and it could be that he wasn't actually nervous at all. You shook your head clear of the thought.

"Yes." You replied, before realising that wasn't much of an answer. "Yes, that'd be nice."

He pulled that annoying grin of his that was arrogant enough for you to want to punch him but childish enough for it to be adorable. Something about his cocky manner just was so hot. You remembered when he suddenly just took down Bacchus in the Grand Magic Games and certain parts of you had just melted. And Levy had caught you. You cringed internally. So embarrassing.

The two of you caught up with Rogue, Lector and Yukino, who were looking around still.

"Frosch!" Lector was calling loudly.

"There are so many people that I can't even catch his scent..." Sting muttered dejectedly. You'd forgotten the nose of a dragon slayer was super strong. You dreaded to think what you smelt like to Sting.

"Look! Over there!" Yukino said, tugging your vest top and pointing. Frosch was stood, tail swishing side to side, in front of a large map elevated by a wooden frame.

"There he is! Frosch!" Sting said, rushing forward.

"Wait!" Rogue yelled, throwing out his arm, hitting Yukino's chest briefly as his arm flew out and practically full on groped your breast. He turned to look at you and gaped, going red as he realised his accident. A white light flooded the area and Rogue was sent flying back as Sting yelled angrily.

"What the hell are you doin'?!"

You crossed your arms over your breasts flushing. Yukino put her hand on your shoulder. "Are you okay, _-sama?"

"F-fine." You stammered.

"I...I didn't mean...I'm sorry _..." Rogue muttered from the floor. You muttered an 'okay' before going to stop Sting from smashing him into the ground more. Trying to pay Rogue back for groping you accidentally was sweet of him in a weird way, but Rogue had suffered enough from the embarrassment alone.

"Wait a second..take a closer look..." Rogue said, weakly pointing his finger at Frosch.

"He's looking at a map." Lector observed.

"That's right!" Rogue said, staggering to his feet. "He's trying to get back to the guild on his own. Under his own power! I think we should harden our hearts and watch Frosch, for his own sake!"

You nodded reluctantly. Frosch was adorable but he really did have no sense of direction. Being independent might help that.

"Frosch returning to the guild hall on his own?" Sting murmured, looking blankly at the Exceed.

"That's impossible, hai." Lector added.

After watching Frosch for barely a minute more, observing how he was so easily distracted, you had to agree. "This should be interesting."

The day had been crazy. Rogue's motion sickness, a phenomenon you had never wanted to witness again, had come into play when he stopped a runaway carriage from hitting Frosch. Natsu had appeared and caused half a disaster in the middle of town, as well. You had considered going to see him and Lucy, but following Frosch was a surprisingly difficult task and you'd all been quickly whisked away in pursuit of the Exceed. The sun was beginning to set and Frosch was nowhere near home.

"It's getting late." You said to Sting. "By the time Frosch gets back..." You sighed.

"Yeah. We'll go out another day, I promise." He said. "I'm still not convinced Frosch can do this."

"Rogue has faith in him. And so do I." You said with a small laugh as you noticed Frosch talking to Gray and Juvia.

"And all by yourself, that's impressive!" Juvia was beaming. You couldn't help but smile. Despite her almost borderline stalker obsession with Gray, she was sweet at heart and a kind person.

"Fro thinks so too!" The Exceed said before pausing. Suddenly, a small sad wail came from Frosch and you could see him crying. Your heart shattered slightly at seeing him upset.

"What's wrong?" Juvia asked.

"The truth is I'm lost!" Frosch said with tears rolling down his cheeks and off his whiskers.

"Frosch!" Rogue suddenly began sobbing next to you.

"Is it about time we help him?" Sting muttered.

"Yeah..." You and Lector replied. Rogue then rebuffed it, reasserting his faith in Frosch. You focused on the Exceed, who was looking at the ground sadly.

"Fro will go back alone." He said quietly. Rogue, Sting and Lector all gasped, whilst Yukino and you felt smiles reappearing on your faces. He was a resilient little one, you thought to yourself.

"I always get lost, but I want to be able to go home on my own. Fro is a member of Sabertooth too, look!" He unzipped the back of his frog suit and showed Gray and Juvia his guild mark. You noticed that somehow in the brief moment you'd looked away that Gray had stripped down to his boxers.

"Why is Gray-san mostly naked?" Sting muttered.

"Long story." You replied with a smirk as you noted that Juvia had already picked up his clothes for him and was casually holding them against her chest as the two of them bid goodbye to Frosch.

"Maybe Frosch had grown up a bit." Sting said as Rogue continued to dramatically confess his love for his Exceed.

"He's brave, certainly." You smiled. Although chaotic, your first days in Sabertooth were beginning to look like the openings of a bright future.


	5. Cats and Catsuits

"He's walking and sleeping at the same time..." Sting observed with a grieved sigh. Frosch was falling asleep and strolling, before perking up like he was waking up. Then his head would drop and the cycle would repeat. It was endearing but you had been walking around all day and you were tired.

"Frosch-sama..." Yukino murmured.

"This very moment...I want to just burst out there and shout to him..." Rogue muttered as a happy Frosch stood in front of a very familiar building.

"I made it!" He cheered, throwing his paws up into the air.

"Because this is what I'd say..." Rogue continued. You knew an outburst was coming and you leaned away from the shadow dragon slayer into Sting's shoulder.

"THIS AIN'T IT, GODDAMMIT!" He cried out in despair as Frosch stood triumphantly...in front of Fairy Tail.

"We should probably get him now." Lector said. Rogue dropped his head in defeat. Sting went to stand up and leave the place where the group was hidden. "It's gone 10pm. It'll be too dangerous out now, hai."

"Wait." You whispered. "I have an idea that will make sure Frosch is more confident and not reveal that we followed him."

"What?"

"He's walking away from Fairy Tail right now, so why don't I sneak over and act like I just came out of the guild after visiting my friends. Then you guys can act like you were picking me up. Frosch will think that we trusted him to go home alone, but we'll also get to bring him home now." You yawned slightly. "Sound like a plan?"

"Yeah." Rogue muttered sadly.

"On it." You slipped out of your hiding place and headed to the guild doors. You then began to walk away from the entrance, calling back to no-one. "Bye, guys! See you soon!"

Frosch turned around. "_!" He ran towards you.

"Oh, hey there, Frosch." You smiled.

"Why were you at Fairy Tail?"

"I went to see some friends. Say, are you alone? Isn't Lector with you?"

"Fro got lost!" He said sadly. "Fro always gets lost, so I tried to make my own way home. But...I got lost again." He sniffled. "I want Rogue..."

"Oh, sweetie." You sighed sympathetically and held out your arms to him. You were wondering how Yukino and Sting were managing to keep Rogue back at this point. He would probably want to rush to his Exceed immediately after such a confession. Frosch hugged you and you soothed him.

"Rogue-kun and Sting-kun and Yuki-chan were coming to pick me up, actually." You said with a smile. "They should be here any moment."

"Frosch!" Rogue cried, running forwards with Sting, Lector and Yukino in hot pursuit. They'd evidently not managed to keep Rogue from reaching Frosch this time. It was a good job that Frosch's head was buried in your chest sniffling or Rogue would have given away everything.

"Rogue!" Frosch sobbed and wriggled out of your arms to run to Rogue. The two hugged each other tightly and whispered words of comfort to each other.

"Hey," Sting said, putting a hand on your shoulder as you looked up at Fairy Tail, which seemed alive and noisy inside. You could faintly hear Cana shouting for more wine inside and smiled slightly. "You okay?"

"Yeah." You replied, taking his hand. "Just tired, I guess."

"We need to get back. We have the Weekly Sorceror coming tomorrow." Sting groaned. "It's that Jason guy."

"Interview or...?"

"Interview and photoshoots. He wants to know about the battle with Natsu-kun." His face easily gave away that it was still a sore topic. "And...um, given that most of Fiore saw us kiss on lacrima vision...he wants to talk to you."

"Oh nooooo. That guy annoys me so much, Sting. I won't be able to sit in a room and listen to him say 'cool' that many times without wanting to smite myself." You buried your palms in your face with a groan.

"Don't worry. I'll be there too. He wants us both to speak."

"A couples interview?"

"Yeah."

"So, like, will he ask us questions about each other?"

"I guess so."

"What's your favourite colour?" You suddenly asked. "I should know these things."

Sting blinked for a moment but quickly smiled. "It's blue. Yours?"

"It's _." You replied. "Go on, you ask a question."

"Okay...biggest goal?"

"Mm...probably figure out how I got here. But if not...I guess be a good singer?"

"You're already that, honey."

It seemed so strange to have Sting say something as weird as 'honey'. It was so domestic and cutesy. "Honey? Really?" You laughed.

He slung an arm over your shoulder. "So, there was one other favour I wanted to ask..."

"You're pushing it with the favours thing, but go on."

"We're coming up to a month of me being master, and..." He suddenly went shy.

"What?"

"I kinda want to have a party. To celebrate a new era. Since we were so busy with the pool and stuff, we didn't get to have a proper party. I've heard Fairy Tail's parties are pretty legendary. I was wondering if you could help me organise a joint party."

"Are you kidding?!" You practically launched yourself at him. "That would be amazing!" You hugged him tightly and kissed him joyously in the middle of the street. You only broke apart when there were noisy shouts from Rogue.

"Cool! Cool! Cool!"

You were on the verge of throwing yourself out of the window. Half an hour of the Weekly Sorceror interviewer Jason shouting 'cool!' at every little thing had already driven you insane. You were supposed to wear a dress to the interview, but you had turned up to the guild that morning in your usual getup of jeans, a black vest top and your leather jacket, guitar on your back.

You glanced over at Sting and Rogue, who were doing a shirtless photoshoot for part of the votes 'Top Hottest Wizards' chart. Sting and Rogue were topping the list, Hibiki was on it as usual, and Lyon had made an appearance. Gray had also made the list. Picturing Juvia screaming and trying to fight girls who tried to meet Gray made you chuckle. The disconcerted expression on Rogue's face had set you in fits too when you saw it. You had joined Yukino and the Exceeds, who were witnessing the spectacle and then had promptly lost track of all thought looking at Sting leaning against a wall and flexing.

"Take comfort in the fact that Sting and Rogue are most likely as uncomfortable about these interviews as you are, hai." Lector remarked.

"Uncomfortable?" You replied.

"Sting is loyal to you." Rufus suddenly seemed to just appear next to you, a smirk plastered on his face. Orga was next to him, a similar amused expression on his face. "He almost pulled out of it as he didn't want to make you upset."

"Why would I be upset?"

Rufus was taken aback. Orga laughed next to him and put a beefy hand on your shoulder. "You know how many girls read Sorceror Weekly, right?"

"So many." Lector grinned.

"Fro thinks so too!"

"Oh, those?" You pulled your best devious smirk. "Well that'll be funny. Those poor girls can cry in despair over the fact that they'll know that I'll pummel their faces into the ground if they ever try to make a move on my boyfriend."

"Oh I like this girl!" Orga laughed hysterically, clutching his sides.

"She's scary, hai. But she makes great cake." Lector muttered to Rufus as you took off your guitar and jacket. Your Sabertooth mark seemed to shine slightly, golden against your skin. You fiddled with your iPod for a moment before walking up to the reporter, Jason.

"Hey, Jason?" You said, voice dripping with sarcastic sweetness.

"Is that _?! COOL! COOL!"

"Um, you wouldn't mind if I put on some music while you're taking pictures of my lovely boyfriend and Rogue-kun would you?"

"Yeah! That would be so coo-"

"Thanks!" You cut him off. Sting must have seen the devious twinkle in your eyes as he threw you a confused look. You smiled sweetly and stood next to Orga as Jason continued to take pictures of the twin dragons. The moment that they had all become preoccupied with the shoot again you pressed play on your iPod.

"It's raining men! Hallelujah it's raining men! Amen!" Suddenly blared around the room. Sting's and Rogue's faces became utterly priceless as they realised what you were doing. You tapped your foot along to the music innocently.

"Tall, blonde, dark and lean, rough and tough and strong and mean!" You sang along. Rogue looked as if he was going to attempt to disintegrate you.

The music continued in the background as you wandered up to Jason again. "If you have a picture of their expressions just now, do send it to me." You giggled, not able to keep back your laughter any more. "But don't include it in the Sorcerer. I can't do that to them."

"We're finished, anyway." Jason laughed. "I need you in the picture now, too. I have a few already of you, but...I need an extra COOL one now!"

"Er, what pictures of me?" Your happy demeanour faltered.

"Here!" He showed you the pictures on his camera. One was of you evidently belting out a note in the opening ceremony of the Grand Magic Games in full transformation. You looked pretty awesome, even if you did say so yourself. The other one was a rather excellent shot - you had no idea how Jason had obtained it - of you kissing Sting at the end of the Games after you had returned Lector to him. The angle was really quite incredible. As if Jason himself had taken it lying down on his side. You internally cursed how well the organisers of the Grand Magic Games had distributed the lacrima vision cameras.

"Aren't they COOL?!" Jason said. "Right, I need you to stand next to Sting-san. Um, is that what you're wearing?"

"What's wrong with this?" You said defensively. You always wore this, or something similar. It was comfy and practical.

"Um...I think he just wants something more formal?" Sting came to Jason's rescue before you got too angry with the reporter, placing a hand on your shoulder.

"How about a battle dress?" You asked, calming at Sting's touch.

"That would be so COOL!" Jason said, nodding enthusiastically. You ran off quickly, ducking into a side room. You had no such battle dress, but you had the next best thing.

"Angel soul!" You commanded, letting the scales form over your figure. Your hair billowed down in curls. You'd only tried this combination of transformation and take over magic a few times.

It made it so scales formed over all over your body from shoulders down. It did not have the effect of your hair floating around you, nor your wings or the strong golden glow you usually had. The glow was white, but that was mainly due to the fact that the white scales reflected light. It looked like a strange white scaled catsuit, with a few delicate white scales around your temples and your hair cascading down your back. You took a long look, making sure everything was covered before walking back to the photoshoot, where everyone was sitting and talking.

"Will this do?" You said shyly.

Sting fell off his chair and the air was filled with shouts of "COOL! COOL! COOOOOOL!"

"I'd take that as a yes." Lector said. "I think you broke Sting-kun."

"Fro thinks so too!"

After Sting had 'recovered', - YOU personally didn't see what all the fuss was about - Jason took pictures of the two of you together in various poses. None of the poses were too embarrassing thankfully. Eventually Jason stopped taking pictures but before you could leave the backdrop of the shoot, Sting suddenly faced you to stop you leaving. "Hey, can I try something?"

"Sure." You said. You were already beyond the point of self-consciousness.

"White Drive..." He murmured, taking your hand and he began to glow. You both had scales on you now, and because of the reflective nature of your scales, it looked as if you were glowing too. You smiled gently and you looked into each others' eyes, blue hues meeting yours softly.

"You're such a drama king." You muttered with a fond smirk.

"Hey, I just wanted to see if you'd glow without me biting you."

"You can bite me later." You bit your lip with a grin.

"COOOOOL!" Jason said happily, capturing the shot and interrupting you. "Front cover! For definite! I'm thinking: Star Crossed Lovers during the Grand Magic Games!"

"Wha?!" You gaped. "We are NOT Romeo and Juliet!"

"Who are Romeo and Juliet?" Sting asked, tilting his head.

"Never mind."

Sting sighed and turned off his White Drive. "Aw, c'mon, don't I get a battle?" You teased, putting your hand on his hip.

"Not today." He laughed, kissing your cheek. "Besides, I don't want to hurt the girl I love."

"I'd like to see you try, dragon breath." You stuck your tongue out at him.

"Right, come on. Seems we have an interview to do."


	6. Naps and Nostalgia

"I don't have any reasons...  
I've left them all behind  
I'm in a New York state of mind~" you sang sleepily as you made your way down the corridor to Sting and Rogue's room.

It was 6am. You had a train to catch to Magnolia that left at 9, but given the usual amount of distractions faced when having to travel, you'd woken up extra early in order the make sure you'd be on time. You didn't knock for the fear of waking up Rogue - a prospect that still terrified you.

You tiptoed over to Sting's double bed, where he was spread out on his belly starfish style, with Lector occupying the far right corner of the bed against the wall, snoring gently in his little nightcap. You knelt down and shook Sting's shoulder gently. It was hard to ignore his lack of shirt. You prayed he wasn't the sort of person to sleep naked, or an embarrassing scene would soon ensue. "Sting?"

"Mm?" He murmured sleepily. "What is it?"

"I'm off to Magnolia to ask about the party. Did you want to come with me?"

"Do I have to get out of bed to do so?"

"Yes, you idiot." You whispered with a frown.

"What time are you leaving?"

"8:30."

"And what time is it now?"

"6:05..."

"Seriously, _?!" He groaned. "Just go back to bed for another hour."

"But...I'm already up." You protested as quietly as you could. You nearly yelped as Sting moved up his covers and pulled you into his bed next to him, before replacing the duvet on top of the both of you. Your feet brushed against his legs. Thank goodness, he was wearing pyjama bottoms. Panic over.

"Then you can just wait a while with me." He smirked.

"S-Sting."

"Just go back to sleep." He murmured, pulling you towards him and curling up against you. He seemed to radiate body heat but it wasn't unpleasant. Despite blushing furiously, you curled up next to him, leaning into his touch, quickly feeling your eyelids droop. Surely a few minutes wouldn't hurt...

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" A voice cried out and you jolted awake.

You thought you'd only closed your eyes for a moment. Oh no. Light was pouring in from the windows. Rogue was standing over the bed. What was he doing in your room? You thought sleepily. Then you remembered you weren't in your room. You turned away from the angry Rogue to see Sting lying next to you, shirtless and scowling at Rogue.

"I thought I told you to keep all of that to her room!"

"N-nothing happened!" You blurted, waving your arms. "I just sort of fell asleep. It was Sting's fault?" You offered Rogue. He didn't seem convinced and stormed off. You glanced at the clock. It was 8:25. "Sting, we're going to be late!"

"Ah, damn." He cursed. "Sorry."

"It's okay, just get dressed!"

You jumped out of the room and ran across the hall to your room, pausing only to throw a shout of 'it's not what it looks like!' to a scandalised Yukino who saw you leaving Sting's room in your white vest top and pyjama shorts. After quickly getting dressed, you grabbed your guitar and bag, slinging them on your back and hastily put on shoes as you ran downstairs to meet Sting and Lector, who were in a similar state of unorganised frazzle.

"Let's go!" You urged, giving a hurried goodbye to the rest of the guild. The two of you raced towards the train station.

"Do we have to get the train?" Sting cringed in horror.

"Unless you feel like flying to Magnolia, yes."

"You have wings."

"No." You asserted as you went through the ticket barrier. The whistle was blowing on the platform. You grabbed Sting by the arm and raced to get on the train. No sooner had you got on the train that it began to pull out of the station. You sighed with relief, a smile on your face.

"Um..._-chan?" Lector said. You looked at Sting, who was sweating and leaning against the corridor of the train, white as a sheet and clearly fighting back the urge to vomit.

"O-okay. Easy now." You soothed, helping him into the train booth and lying him down. He groaned pathetically. It was tough like this to remember that he wielded one of the most powerful kinds of magic in the world. You wondered if he would be as well respected on Earth. Certainly, being good looking would have gotten him a little bit far. He had drive, too. But like most wizards in Earthland, without magic, he most likely wouldn't be famous or noteworthy on Earth. But you didn't mind that. You stroked his hair gently. He was annoying at times, but you loved him. And, although he didn't say it often, he loved you too.

Lector had told you that Sting had social issues. Despite his popularity in Fiore, Sting's only real friends were Lector and Rogue. Possibly Frosch too. You were, obviously, and Yukino, Orga and Rufus were getting to be better acquainted with him. But apart from that, friends were still a bit of an alien concept to Sting. You almost felt sad about the fact that he had spent so long trying to get strong that he'd never made many friends. But the getting strong was for Weisslogia, and Lector. He'd done a great job of it, too, you smiled to yourself.

"Sting, are you okay?" You asked softly.

"Ugh...do you have those headphones?"

You repressed the urge to smack your forehead. You'd actually forgotten them, in your haste to leave. You had your iPod and charger lacrima but your headphones were still on your bed.

"No, I don't. Do you want me to sing instead?"

"...sure." He said weakly. Lector sat up from Sting's back, where he'd sat himself nibbling at some lemon cake that you'd brought for him.

"The day we met..." You sang softly, rubbing circles around his back. "Frozen I held my breath  
Right from the start  
I knew that I'd found a home for my heart...  
... beats fast  
Colours and promises  
How to be brave?  
How can I love when I'm afraid to fall?  
But watching you stand alone  
All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow..." You sang gently to Sting, who was more relaxed. Lector smiled at you.

"One step closer  
I have died everyday waiting for you  
Darling don't be afraid I have loved you  
For a thousand years  
I'll love you for a thousand more..."  
Sting turned over and looked up at you. You paused. "Is something wrong?"

"N-no." He said weakly. "Just...you're so beautiful."

You would have had cause to blush had Sting not promptly had to stop himself retching.

"Are you feeling better now?"

"Yeah." Sting said with a strong smile as you walked through the streets of Magnolia. The sun was shining and you could smell fresh strawberries as you passed the market stalls. It smelt...like coming home. "I guess you must miss this town, huh?" Sting continued.

"I do. But I don't regret leaving." You squeezed his hand. Lector making puking noises in jest behind you, before running ahead.

"Do you reckon we'll see Carla? She's so beautiful..." He said wistfully.

"Happy will fight you, Lector. Besides, Carla...how do I put this...has really really high standards."

"You saying Lector isn't good enough?!" Sting scowled.

"No. I'm saying Carla is stuck-up. There's no other phrase for it. But why not try? Ice Exceed might melt."

You arrived in front of Fairy Tail, smelling the faint smells of wine, smoke and Mirajane's cooking. A smile spread across your face. "You ready?"

"Sure."

You grinned, before deciding to make an entrance befitting a former Fairy Tail Mage. You kicked open the door Natsu-style and shouted to the crowd of people.

"Hey! Did I take the party with me?!"

"_-chan!" Romeo called out happily, and the guild cheered. You ran to the small boy, who was sat with Wendy and Carla and hugged him tightly. In the two year gap before the rest of Fairy Tail returned, you'd gotten to know Romeo well. He was a spirited kid and you'd always encouraged his secret magic learning.

"Hey, Romeo." You grinned. "How's tricks?"

"Good. My fire magic is improving every day."

"You'll have to fight me and Natsu-kun when you get strong."

"I will!"

"Sting-san's here, too!" Wendy beamed. You glanced at Lector, who was already trying to hit it off with Carla.

"Ah, beautiful Carla, I haven't seen you since-"

"LOVE RIVAL!" A voice interrupted Lector. For once, the outburst did not come from Juvia. Happy had flown across the room at top speed and was angrily attempting to drag Lector away from Carla, fish dangling from his mouth.

"Oh geez." You sighed. "But if Happy's around, that means..."

"Yo, _! Sting!" A familiar pink haired dragon slayer said, bounding forward and grinning deviously. "Fight me!"

"Natsu, we're barely through the door!" You protested, although Sting looked eager to take him up on the offer.

"Welcome back, child." Another voice said. The Master had made his way through the crowd to see what all the fuss was about.

"Master Makarov." You beamed. "It's good to see you."

"What brings you here? Did this boy hurt you?" He said suspiciously.

"N-No!" You shook your head.

"We're organising a party at Sabertooth to celebrate creating a better guild. _ told me that you have some great parties, so we came to ask if you wanted to have a joint party, as a show of friendship between guilds." Sting said, addressing the Master.

"It can be held here or at Sabertooth." You added. "Please? It would be so fun! And we'd make it an open bar!"

"Would we?" Sting muttered.

"Yes!" You whispered back.

"I'll think on it. But you really came all this way just to ask us that?" Makarov replied.

"Well, not exactly. I owe Pantherlily a match if he's around."

"Him and Gajeel were on a job with Levy, Jet and Droy." Mira said with a smile. "They were due back any time now, really."

"Sweet." You sighed in relief. "It's so good to see everyone again."

"I agree." Mira said.

"Oi, _! You write another song for me yet?" Natsu called from across the room.

"Not everything's about you, Natsu!" Gray yelled.

"What'd you say, ice princess?"

"You wanna fight, you idiot?"

"I'm all fired up, stripper!"

"Bring it, hothead."

"Pervert!"

"Flame brain!"

The two quickly launched themselves at each other and began fighting. Gray's clothes had all gone bar his black shorts.

Sting sweat dropped. "Are they always like this? Even at the guild?"

"Are you kidding? Of course. Natsu's a walking disaster, and Gray will do anything that involves stripping off and tackling other people." You giggled.

"Cut it out, you two! I'm trying to eat my strawberry cake in peace!" Erza roared. The two immediately started turning their fighting into dancing together.

"Aye!" They both said.

"She's scary, hai." Lector muttered. "Even scarier than _-chan."

"I agree." You said, watching the armoured woman sit back down, eyes glistening as she began eating her cake again.


End file.
